Hey Verno, am I allowed to complain about Valve forcing through updates to games when you have them set to NOT automatically update? 'Cause I had Skyrim set to not update but it patched it anyway when I wasn't at my PC.

Just want to know if Valve changing files on my computer without my authorization and when I specifically set Steam not to was something I am allowed to complain about.

Teddy wrote on Nov 22, 2011, 00:24:And your source for the bullshit you're spouting? Since when does Valve do the work to get a game/patch running in Steam? They may offer support to the developer, but I don't buy for one second that they do the work themselves.

So again, source or you're just as full of shit as anyone else that's spreading rumors and 'speculation'.

They certainly add the Steam DRM themselves, which is what he is talking about and what happened today.

Verno wrote on Nov 21, 2011, 22:25:Hopefully an oversight, Bethesda/Steam went out of their way to ensure things wouldn't conflict with the community work on Fallout games which ran into similar problems awhile back. I don't know why Bethesda would change their tune now. 7 million copies ain't enough?

They never supported exe modification though, that's a whole new bag.

It should be mentioned that Fallout: New Vegas, despite having Steam on the exe, did get a LAA mod that was a custom launcher. I would assume Skyrim will get the same now, it just wasn't needed before. Still, as someone who liked launching the game with Steam closed this will be kind of a bummer once a real patch comes out.

Umbragen wrote on Nov 21, 2011, 20:10:I guess it all depends on which way they go: The Dark Project, The Metal Age or Deadly Shadows. Each has it's pitfalls and pluses, but I have less faith in anyone's ability to pull off a successful sequel to this series. Why isn't there more information out on Thief 4?

They were dark while Deus Ex HR was still the highlight and marketing focus. Not surprising. Some leaked concept art showed it is still of the same visual style and setting.

Dev wrote on Nov 21, 2011, 17:41:You realize that once you install the DLC, the graphical improvements ALSO patch and apply to the main game? Such as the improved tesselation, improved lighting, improved sky/weather, improved textures, etc.

Frijoles wrote on Nov 21, 2011, 16:35:When it came out, I wasn't sure how long it was. 7 hours is a good length. But $15 at the moment is still too high (since there are other games to play). I fully plan on buying it, though, when the price comes down. With us being so close to Black Friday and the Steam Christmas sale, I figure it will be cheaper and I will buy it at that time.

It's definitely superfluous content and not at all a real expansion, so waiting is probably the right thing to do. As a big fan of the game who got 7 more hours of it though, I can't say I feel ripped off.

Jerykk wrote on Nov 21, 2011, 13:39:No disagreements about K&L being shite, though.

They just weren't worth being full price titles, really. For the bargain prices I got the K&L games for I thoroughly enjoyed them... basic cover-based shooters with a Michael Mann meets Quentin Tarantino movie quality to them. Good for 5 hours of fun.

Dev wrote on Nov 21, 2011, 15:32:Keep in mind that they also did significant graphical updates to the game in the missing link DLC. So it wasn't just a chunk of new content, it was an engine update complete with better textures. They didn't communicate this well, but they had valid reasons for pricing it that way.

Yeah, the DLC looked dramatically better, it was pretty surprising. I would kill for a patch or mod that put those improvements into the main game. And I'm not sure $15 was overpriced really, the DLC took me 7+ hours to complete, which is longer than many full price games.

As for the topic at hand, good stuff. I hope the core team that did Human Revolution stays together for Thief 4 and then the sequel to Deus Ex though. Watering that team down might make the games suffer from a lack of clear direction.

Mad Max RW wrote on Nov 20, 2011, 13:49:What would you prefer? Should the developer come to your house and hand you a copy of the game? Then it means you have to manually install a hard copy and that's also heresy to another group of morons. How about they come to your house, install the game for free, and be on call 24 hours a day for the rest of your life ready to reinstall the game at a moment's notice. No DRM, no questions asked, and definitely no money involved. Making money is evil, too.

What the fuck are you going on about? How about you pay money, get a download link, and own the game forever. The GOG method, the Gamersgate method when games are DRM free, the Direct2Drive method when games are DRM free.

This idea that digital distribution necessitates DRM is ridiculous. Did you like iTunes when it used DRM more than now, when they have realized it's pointless customer bashing and stopped using it?

Tom wrote on Nov 20, 2011, 10:11:"Steam is DRM" ... uh huh, your view isn't any narrower than his eh?

Steam is a service in which you give up some things to get some other things. Clearly most people have found the tradeoff to be in their favor.

No matter what it gives you (and personally it gives me nothing) it is still DRM. If a murderer hands you millions of dollars, a great blowjob and a t-bone steak before she kills you, she's still a murderer. I'm not even saying Steam is BAD or EVIL or whatever else people here like to pretend I say, I'm just saying it is certainly DRM. Therefore saying "we don't like DRM" or "we don't use DRM" and then making your game exclusive to a DRM platform is... weird, stupid, hypocritical, whatever.

Hard Reset is sold on Gamersgate which has DRM free games on it. Hard Reset is not DRM free there, it requires activation through Steam. Therefore, hypocritical.

Dades wrote on Nov 19, 2011, 14:31:As if saying most is any better when you have so little information about the subject.

I have my own 20 years of experience plus detailed evaluation and debate from experienced technicians and developers. I don't know what the fuck else I would need to have an opinion on the subject, but I'm sure you will tell me.

Dades wrote on Nov 19, 2011, 12:34:Blaming all errors on user is just as fucking stupid as overclocking to 4.6ghz then whining about crashes. The PC hardware platform has so many different combinations of hardware, drivers and software that there are bound to be problems even with the proliferation of middleware and higher level programming APIs in gaming. Most people are not educated enough to solve their own problems, many of which they don't even cause which in turns leads others to be snobby dicks about the whole thing. Congratulations, you don't crash, I don't either. That doesn't mean other people are doing something wrong if they see one. There are so many different variables involved that it's not even worth getting into it without all of the information. The whole looking down on other users about their machine configurations doesn't do our hobby any favours in the long run.

I like how you changed my "most" into "all" to suit your counterpoint.

Some games are more testy about drivers and such, this is true. And Bethesda games fall under that umbrella, from what I have seen and heard. To me though this is all the more reason to keep your gaming PC as clean as possible. I use a laptop for all my printing, scanning and other such things so that I have can keep my gaming PC super clean.

Not everyone has two computers of course, and maybe games should not be that sensitive, but in the end I think the core tenets are the point. Keep as clean a system as possible, don't introduce errors through overclocking and follow a reliable tech site's user guides. That formula has lead me to a decade or more of hassle-free PC gaming.

theyarecomingforyou wrote on Nov 19, 2011, 04:09:I think I've been unlucky. I've had around 40 CTDs,...

With that many CTD's, your problem is most likely somewhere in here:

Core i7 2600-K (4.6GHz) | HD5970 2GB (910/1200)

It's literally amazing how many people think that overclocking is some kind of guaranteed function of their cpu or gpu. It's not--the only thing guaranteed by the respective manufacturers is the stock clock speed. It's bizarre how overclockers will "protect" that overclock at all costs--and even convince themselves that their overclocks are fine--just because they can boot OK and "other games" run fine, and will cheerfully conclude that their software is as buggy as a termite mound, instead...;)

The fact is that different games exercise different areas of cpu & gpu circuitry in differing ways, which is why some games run like a top when you're overclocked and other games CTD on a regular basis. Best policy? Don't overclock. In fact, until you run your system at stock clocks from the install of your game forward you simply are in no position to know what's a real bug in the software you run and what's going wrong because you are overclocked that otherwise wouldn't.

A-fucking-men brother. I am so tired of people clogging up tech support forums and spreading rumors about certain games being unstable or buggy when it all comes back to their insane overclocks that they refuse to even look twice at. During my brief overclocking adventure I had more problems with games than I had ever had before or have had since. As a Valve developer said on the Steam forums in a long rant once, as soon as you overclock you introduce calculation errors, and as soon as you introduce errors you start causing problems.

I run a stock speed system, a system clean of unneeded drivers and programs, following the tweakguides.com methodology. I have never had crashing issues with Bethesda games, or to be frank any other game. People on here jumped my shit last time I said that, acting like I must be lying, but I am not. I haven't seen a BSOD in 10 years and I haven't had any issues running games outside of confirmed game issues everyone has.

Just my opinions of course, but I strongly believe most crashing issues are user error.

The rockpapershotgun commentary article on this is HILARIOUS. Sounds like a truly horrible game, which everyone knew the moment they showed off gameplay a year ago. I thought they delayed it to add in gameplay, but I guess not.

As for the metacritic thing... tacky as hell, and makes Telltale look desperate.